BRANDON GOES TO BEIJING

This year I am proud to be part of Multicultural Children's Book Day (MCBD) 2021. This is my first ever participation, I am reviewing a book sent to me by the author Eugenia Chu. The book title is "Brandon Goes To Beijing", a great picture book illustrated by Eliza Hsu Chen, you can find it on www.eugeniachu.com.  

Brandon is a very smart and adventurous boy from Florida, with his three cousins from California Sean, Kayla, and Connor they visited their grandparents in Beijing,China.  The flight from Florida to Beijing took a very long time, but the kids were already excited to start their adventure.

Grandpa and Grandma took the kids to their apartment and served many delicious meals.  After breakfast, Grandpa and Grandma accompanied the kids to visit some famous and historic sites in Beijing. First of All, they went to The Great Wall of China, then riding a rickshaw through the busy alleyways and visit one of the traditional houses. The next day they went to visit the biggest palace square in the world, The Forbidden Palace. A long time ago unless lived or worked there, people had to get special permission to visit the palace. Whenever they went, Brandon saw something strange, a small black and white animal, he thought it was a panda, but how was it possible to found a little panda roaming around the city? nobody would believe what Brandon had seen. 

The mystery solved when they visited the zoo. Brandon saw the little black and white animal again and it turned out to be a really little Panda who had a name, Xiao Ming, and to add more surprise to the kids this panda was talking.  He told the kids, just like them he also like to enjoy his own adventure outside the zoo.

This book is very good and educational. with Brandon and his family, the reader will enjoy exploring the city of Beijing, from its food to its famous places through the eyes of children. This book contains a few words and phrases written in Chinese characters (Simplified) and spelled in Pinyin.  Eugenia Chu introduced and explained it carefully so that people will understand that each Chinese letter represents a word, not a sound and Pinyin helps to pronounce the word correctly.

My kids and I really like this book, and actually, I have never been visited Beijing, but after reading this book I wish I could go there someday, Who knows maybe I could meet Xiao Ming and take a selfie with him.

Bandar Lampung, Indonesia January 29, 2021

Multicultural Children’s Book Day 2021 (1/29/21) is in its 8^th year! This non - profit children’s literacy initiative was founded by Valarie Budayr and Mia Wenjen; two diverse book - loving moms who saw a need to shine the spotlight on all of the multicultural books and authors on the market while also working to get those book into the hands of young readers and educators. Eight years in, MCBD’s mission is to raise awareness of the ongoing need to include kids’ books that celebrate diversity in homes and school bookshelves continues. Read about our Mission & History HERE.

MCBD 2021 is honored to be Supported by these Medallion Sponsors!

FOUNDER’S CIRCLE: Mia Wenjen (Prgamaticmom) and Valarie Budayr’s (Audreypress.com) Platinum Sponsors: Language Lizard Bilingual Books in 50+ Languages, Author Deedee Cummings and Make A Way Media Gold Sponsors: Barefoot Books, Candlewick Press, Capstone, Hoopoe Books, KidLitTV, Peachtree Publishing Company Inc. Silver Sponsors: Charlotte Riggle, Connecticut Association of School Librarians, Author Kimberly Gordon Biddle, Pack - N - Go Girls Bronze Sponsors: Agatha Rodi and AMELIE is IMPRESSED! , Barnes Brothers Books, Create and Educate Solutions, LLC, Dreambuilt Books, Dyesha and Triesha McCants/McCants Squared, Redfin Real Estate, Snowflake Stories, Star Bright Books, TimTimTom Bilingual Personalized Books, Author Vivian Kirkfield, Wisdom Tales Press, My Well Read Child  

MCBD 2021 is honored to be Supported by these Author S ponsors!

Poster Artist: Nat Iwata Authors: Author Afsaneh Moradian, Author Alva Sachs & Three Wishes Publishing Company, Author Angeliki Stamatopoulou - Pedersen, Author Anna Olswanger, Author Casey Bell , Author Claudine Norden, Author Debbie Dadey, Author Diana Huang & Intrepids, Author Eugenia Chu & Brandon goes to Beijing, Green Kids Club, Author Gwen Jackson, Author Janet Balletta, Author Josh Funk, Author Julia Inserro, Karter Johnson & Popcorn and Books, Author Kathleen Burkinshaw & The Last Cherry Blossom, Author Keila Dawson, M aya/Neel Adventures with Culture Groove, Author Mia Wenjen, Michael Genhart, Nancy Tupper Ling, Author Natalie Murray, Natalie McDonald - Perkins, Author Natasha Yim, Author Phe Lang and Me On The Page Publishing, Sandra Elaine Scott, Author Shoumi Sen & From The Toddler Diaries, SISSY GOES TINY by Rebecca Flansburg and B.A. Norrgard, Susan Schaefer Bernardo & Illustr ator Courtenay Fletcher, Tales of the Five Enchanted Mermaids, Author Theresa Mackiewicz, Tonya Duncan and the Sophie Washington Book Series, Author Toshia Stelivan, Valerie Williams - Sanchez & The Cocoa Kids Collection Books©, Author Vanessa Womack, MBA, Author Veronica Appleton & the Journey to Appleville book series

MCBD 2021 is Honored to be Supported by our CoHosts and Global CoHosts!

MCBD 2021 is Honored to be Supported by these Media Partners!

Check out MCBD's Multicultural Books for Kids Pinterest Board!

FREE RESOURCES from Multicultural Children’s Book Day

Diversity Book Lists & Activities for Teachers and Parents Homeschool Diverse Kidlit Booklist & Activity Kit FREE Teacher Classroom Activism and Activists Kit FREE Teac her Classroom Empathy Kit FREE Teacher Classroom Kindness Kit FREE Teacher Classroom Physical and Developmental Challenges Kit FREE Teacher Classroom Poverty Kit Gallery of Our Free Posters FREE Diversity Book for Classrooms Program

TWITTER PARTY! Register here!

Join us on Friday, Jan 29, 2021, at 9 pm EST for the 8th annual Multicultural Children's Book Day Twitter Party! This epically fun and fast - paced hour includes multicultural book discussions, addressing timely issues, diverse book recommen dations, & reading ideas. We will be giving away an 8 - Book Bundle every 5 minutes plus Bonus Prizes as well! *** US and Global participants welcome. ** Follow the hashtag #ReadYourWorld to join the conversation, connect with like - minded parts, authors, publishers, educators, organizations, and librarians. See you all very soon on Twitter! Hashtag: Don’t forget to connect with us on social media and be sure and look for/use our official hashtag #ReadYourWorld.

KAYU AFRIKA

Lelaki tua itu duduk di bangku di sebelah saya, sambil menunggu bus yang akan membawa saya ke Kotabumi saya menyimak ceritanya. Ia berkata bahwa meskipun tinggal di desa tapi dirinya tidak pandai bertani, sehingga ia tidak menanam kopi atau lada seperti para pemilik kebun lainnya. Ketika saya tanyakan apakah kebunnya ditelantarkan begitu saja, ia menjawab tidak. Menurutnya, kebun-kebun itu ia tanami kayu afrika dan sengon karena tidak membutuhkan banyak perawatan seperti tanaman kopi atau lada. Ia menganggap tanaman kayu itu adalah tabungannya, yang akan dipanen ketika kebutuhan pengeluaran besar telah tiba masanya, misalnya menyekolahkan atau menikahkan anak hingga membuat rumah. 

Afrika adalah nama  pohon yang memiliki nama ilmiah Maesopsis Eminii, sesuai dengan namanya pohon ini berasal dari benua Afrika.

Para petani biasanya menanam pohon afrika sebagai tanaman peneduh untuk tanaman perkebunan seperti kopi dan lada. Pohon afrika memiliki laju pertumbuhan yang relatif cepat sehingga cocok untuk digunakan sebagai tanaman penghijauan (reboisasi). Daun tanaman afrika kecil-kecil dan berkilat, permukaannya licin dan sedikit kaku dengan alur tulang daun menyirip. Di pedesaan daun pohon afrika juga dimanfaatkan sebagai pakan ternak terutama kambing. 

Buah dari pohon Afrika sepintas lalu mirip dengan buah melinjo, berwarna hijau ketika masih muda lalu perlahan-lahan berubah menjadi kuning, merah hingga menjadi ungu gelap. Buah-buah pohon afrika menjadi makanan bagi burung dan monyet, hewan-hewan tersebut hanya makan "daging" buahnya saja dan tidak dapat mencerna biji buah yang keras sehingga biji yang tertelan dan keluar bersama feses mereka menjadi tersebar dan tumbuh di area yang menjadi lokasi tinggal atau lokasi jelajah hewan tersebut.

Untuk pembibitan tanaman digunakan biji pohon afrika yang sudah tua dan masak, karena pohonnya tinggi, buah yang sudah masak itu cukup dipanen dengan cara memungut buah yang sudah jatuh saja kemudian diproses melalui beberapa tahap untuk proses pembibitan. Cara yang lebih mudah yang banyak digunakan petani adalah dengan mencabut anakan pohon yang tumbuh di sekitar lokasi pohon yang berasal dari buah-buah yang jatuh sendiri maupun sisa makanan hewan. Para petani akan memilih tanaman yang terlihat bagus dan cukup kuat untuk dijadikan bibit lalu memindahkan dan menanamnya langsung di tempat yang diinginkan di kebun. Jika akan ditanam di lokasi lain, bibit-bibit afrika itu dipindahkan terlebih dulu ke dalam polibag.

Harga jual kayu afrika bervariasi menurut kualitas yang utamanya ditentukan oleh usianya. Kayu-kayu afrika muda biasanya dianggap kayu ringan dan banyak digunakan untuk pembuatan kotak-kotak kayu (palet). Adapun kayu afrika yang sudah tua yang mencapai usia dua puluh sampai tiga puluh tahun dapat digunakan sebagai bahan bangunan dan furnitur. Kayu Afrika termasuk jenis yang disukai rayap sehingga untuk penggunaan sebagai bahan bangunan kayu-kayu tersebut harus diberi perlakuan khusus terlebih dahulu agar awet dan terhindar dari serbuan rayap.

Di kalangan konsumen obat herbal ada tanaman lain yang disebut daun afrika (Vernonia amygdalina) yang bentuknya tidak berupa pohon melainkan semak. Tanaman daun afrika tersebut banyak dimanfaatkan sebagai obat herbal yang dipercaya bisa menyembuhkan penyakit kulit, demam, diabetes hingga penyakit kanker. Sama-sama menyematkan nama afrika, tanaman daun afrika juga berasal dari benua Afrika. Bagi anda yang ingin membeli bibit tanaman afrika di market place atau tempat lain pastikan terlebih dahulu apakah anda bermaksud membeli tanaman kayu afrika atau daun afrika, sehingga nanti tidak menyalahkan penjualnya ketika barang yang datang ternyata tidak sesuai dengan keinginan.